In the decade I have spent writing about wine, I have come to love wine people as much as the wines they make. It's impossible to separate the passion from the product.

And the past several weeks have seen an extraordinary procession of foreign vignerons and vintners - most were both, meaning grape-growing and wine-making play equally important roles in their lives - pass through Houston. They have traveled from the far reaches of the globe to share their philosophies, explain their methodologies and show how that translates in the glass. Why they came in such numbers was flattering: We're an important destination both for the volume of wine that's being sold here and the perceived sophistication/nuance of our collective palate. In short, H-Town isn't just an old cab town anymore.

Although space limitations won't permit me to go into as much detail as I'd like to about our guests, they deserve to have their stories at least briefly told and their wines explained. Some already have space on the shelves of local retail outlets, but others' wines will be restaurant-only finds. And a few passed through simply to take Houston's pulse and offer a "bonjour" or a "ciao," hoping to cultivate new customers one sip at a time.

Maxence Dulou, Ao Yun (China)

Winemaker Dulou groomed for his current winemaking gig in his native Bordeaux, where he spent time at the famous Saint-Émilion château Cheval Blanc, among other wineries, then moved on to South Africa. That's where Jean-Guillaume Prats "discovered" him. Prats, head of the luxury conglomerate LVMH's wine division, needed a winemaker who understood cellar fundamentals and could translate them to a new, far-flung terroir in China's Yunnan province, which reminded Prats "of Bordeaux in terms of weather patterns." Dulou is now two vintages into producing Ao Yun, which means "roaming above the clouds." It's 90 percent cabernet sauvignon and 10 percent cab franc, made from grapes grown in vineyards in the Himalayan foothills that are as high 8,500 feet. They're the highest, arguably most remote on the planet, and the challenges of working in such an exotic locale, with no history of fine-wine production, are obvious. Yields are small, limiting production to about 2,000 cases. The wine is excellent - modern Right Bank Bordeaux in style - but quite expensive, as would be expected given the daunting logistics. The 2013 Ao Yun Shangri-La sells for $319.99 at wine.com.

Paolo Rosina, La Mesma (Italy)

Those of us who grew up drinking bland, uninteresting supermarket Gavi tend to be dismissive of the wine. However, tasting Rosina's lineup of all-natural Gavis (no fertilizers or pesticides are spread or sprayed on the 26 hectares of cortese, the Gavi grape) will change that impression in a hurry. The winery, owned by Rosina and her two sisters, Francesca and Anna, is near Alessandria in southeastern Piemonte. Two of La Mesma's five wines are sparklers, one that's quite serious and another that's quite perfect for aperitivo sipping. The 2015 La Mesma Gavi Riserva, full of flowers and citrus, was completely bought up by Houston restaurants and Vinology Bottle Shop & Tasting on Bissonnet the first day it was offered.

Erica Crawford, Loveblock Wines (New Zealand)

In the realm of famous wine-family names, none is more well known in New Zealand than Crawford, as in Kim Crawford. But Kim and his wife, Erica, no longer own the Kim Crawford brand. Instead, they have thrown the profits from selling that business into a boutique operation called Loveblock. Erica, who's from South Africa, brought a science and business background to the partnership, then hired "the best winemaker I knew." (That would be Kim.) Together, they turned a 180-acre, overgrown sheep paddock in a remote corner of Marlborough into their own grape-growing Shangri-La. The Loveblock Vineyard is certified organic and the source of the fruit for their sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, riesling, gewürtztraminer, chenin blanc and Moscato. Someone's Darling Vineyard in Central Otago, dedicated completely to pinot noir, is certified sustainable. The 2014 Loveblock Pinot Noir - available at Spec's for $21.84 - earned a unanimous recommendation in a recent Chronicle panel blind tasting.

Frédéric Weber, Bouchard Père et Fils (France)

Weber was here to showcase Bouchard's full spectrum of white and red 2016 Burgundies, which he calls "a very beautiful vintage, fully expressing each terroir with very good concentration because of lower yields and excellent acidity." Because critics unanimously branded 2015 an outstanding vintage in Burgundy, the 2016s are being a bit overshadowed, but Weber draws a comparison with how the highly regarded 2009s "obfuscated" the 2010s, although the latter ultimately delivered more interesting wines across the board, in his opinion.

Nicola Scienza, Rubinelli Vajol (Italy)

Scienza's winery is in the heart of Valpolicella, and he produces each of the five classical Valpolicella wines, including a ripasso and an amarone, from the five indigenous grapes of the region: corvina, corvinone, rondinella, molinara and oseleta. The vines range from 40 to 80 years old, and the wines are aged in a mix of French and Slovenian oak. The Rubinelli Vajol Ripasso is on the list at Giacomo's in Houston, 3215 Westheimer.

Charles Simpson, Domaine Sainte Rose (France, England)

Over the past 15 years, Simpson has established a strong presence in the Languedoc, where he delivers some 360,000 bottles of the classic Provençal varietals to the market each year as the owner/winemaker for Sainte Rose. But he and his wife, Ruth, are being pulled in another direction - as in home to England because of the tremendous potential of the sparkling wines he's making from grapes grown on the 90 acres he purchased in 2012 in Barham, Kent, near the famous White Cliffs of Dover. The champagne varieties, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier thrive in that chalky soil.

Jane Lello, Stellekaya (South Africa)

Lello's family has earned a world-wide reputation with a lovely lineup of wines from the Cape region. Three, all from northern Stellenbosch, are available at Spec's: The 2009 Cape Cross, a merlot, pinotage and cabernet blend ($27); the 2011 Hercules, a sangiovese ($27); and the 2008 Orion ($45), a Bordeaux-style blend. The grapes for each are cold-soaked to preserve bright flavors. Fermentation in open bins and basket-pressing follows. Aging lasts a minimum of 18 months in French barriques. Stellekaya's total production never exceeds 40,000 bottles per vintage.

Dale Robertson is the longest-tenured sports writer at a major daily newspaper in Texas, having spent 18 years with the Houston Post (1972-90) before joining the Houston Chronicle in the fall of 1990. His primary sports duties include covering the Texans, the Houston Marathon, the Shell Houston Open PGA tournament and the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, a stop on the ATP World Tour. He’s also the Chronicle’s wine columnist while writing occasionally about health issues and travel destinations.